Ethanol supply chain continues to morph
Mergers and deals alter face of ethanol market
By David Hannon -- Purchasing, 6/18/2009 2:00:00 AM
It only took Agstar Financial Services a bit more than a month to find a buyer for the Michigan ethanol plant it bought from bankrupt ethanol producer VeraSun last spring. According to a statement, Chicago-based newcomer Green BioEnergy has agreed to buy the Woodbury, Mich. ethanol plant from Agstar for an undisclosed sum. The plant has capacity to produce 40 million gallons of ethanol a year.
AgStar acquired six plants in VeraSun Energy's bankruptcy and says it is continuing discussions with qualified buyers for the five other plants.
In other ethanol supply news, Big River Resources said it plans to begin producing ethanol at a new 100 million gallon plant in Galva, Ill. soon after performing some test runs this month. Ethanol even got a boost from the Obama administration recently, which announced it was allocating $20 million for ethanol research as part of a much broader, $786.5 million biofuel research initiative. Under the new initiative, by 2022, the proposal would require 36 billion gallons annually of renewable fuels, of which 16 billion gallons must be cellulosic biofuels and 1 billion gallons must be of biomass-based diesel. At most 15 billion gallons of the renewable fuel mandate can be met with conventional biofuels, including corn-based ethanol.
Ethanol prices have increased 14¢ this month to an average $1.59/lb, a seven-month high, because of higher energy costs, increased corn prices, reduced production and stronger use by makers of sanitizers and other cleaning products.
Ethanol supply chain continues to morph
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